1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to flash memory, and more particularly to a data storing method for multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory.
2. Description of the Related Art
Non-volatile memory, e.g., NAND flash memory, which has the advantages of a speedy programming time, a small chip area and low power consumption, commonly serve as storage media for various kinds of multimedia data, e.g., secure digital (SD) cards or compact flash (CF) cards. In general, a NAND flash memory may comprise a single-level cell (SLC) flash memory and a multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory, wherein each single-level cell may store two values ‘0’ and ‘1’ and each multi-level cell may store more than four values, e.g., ‘00’, ‘01’, ‘10’ and ‘11’, thus allowing for higher storage density.
However, compared with the single-level cell flash memory, the multi-level cell flash memory disadvantageously is subject to data corruption and data loss. Specifically, during the process of soldering memory components to printed circuit boards, data pre-stored in a multi-level cell flash memory may undergo data loss due to high temperature heating for solder reflowing, thus causing memory malfunctions or requirement to re-write the pre-stored data. As a result, the aforementioned problems may significantly reduce mass production efficiency and increases costs.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a method capable of solving the problem due to data loss induced by the multi-level cell flash memory during a solder reflow process and further improving the efficiency of mass producing multi-level cell flash memories.